Stone Mountain celebrates Southern heritage | Staff Photo: Jonathan Phillips
James Garner, left, Jerry McMichen and John Todd prepare to fire one of five cannons present during the 8th National Confederate Memorial Services at Stone Mountain Park on Saturday. |
STONE MOUNTAIN - Daren Duncan thought it was just another day at the park Saturday - until he heard the cannon firing.
Then, the Dacula man took his nearly 2-year-old son Kevin to the base of Stone Mountain to watch re-enactors and history buffs participate in the National Confederate Memorial Day celebration.
"He liked the big bang of the cannon," Duncan said of his son. "I definitely like the history."
That interest in history from the younger generation is exactly what organizers had in mind for the ceremony, which brought Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veterans from across the South.
"We're proud of who we are and where we came from," said Jack Bridwell, commander of the Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "These were heroes who were willing to stand up in America's second revolution and call for state's rights. ... We are the descendants of heroes. Never forget that."
Jim and Shirley Lear drove six and a half hours from Florida for the ceremony, special to them because it was in front of the world's largest Confederate memorial, the carving of Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Stonewall Jackson.
Shirley Lear changed into her hoop skirt and Jim into his gray uniform.
"I'm very proud that it's here," Jim Lear said. "I always wanted to come to it."
With a fife and drum leading in the St. Andrew's Cross flag, the ceremony captured the attention of picnickers and tourists enjoying the park.
"This will be truly a Dixie day," said David Denard, the commander of Georgia Society Military Order of the Stars and Bars. Source: GwinnetDailyPost.com |
